Power transmission



July 22 1952 o. G. HoUsER POWER TRANSMISSION Filed Aug'. 24, 1948 FIG. 4

w. m n m BY ORSON G. HOUSER A 4 /MM I ATTORNEY \lower end of the drivecylinder.

Patented July 22, 1952 PowER TRANSMISSION i Orson G. Houser, Tulsa,Okla., assigner to Vickers Incorporated, Detro of Michigan it,'Mch., 'acorporation Application August-...24, 1948, )Serial No. 494l') Thisinvention relates to power transmissions, and is particularly applicableto those of the type comprising two or more fluid pressure energytranslating devices, one of which may function as a pump and lanother asa fluid motor. f

The .invention is more particularly concerned with an .improved wellpumping apparatus especially adapted for ease in service operations.Where. deep wells 'are provided with pumping equipment using'suc'kerrods, the sucker rod actuating mechanism is usually mounted upon a skidbase so that the polish rod is in line with the well casing directlyabove it and the casing head is provided with a packing or stuffing boxsurrounding the polish rod.

In pumping equipment such as the hydraulic type Where the polish rodtelescopes upwardly into the pump drive cylinder, it is undesirable tohave a sucker rod joint pass through either the well head stuffing boxor the packing at the It has been customary heretofore to provide a longenough polish rod so that when it is fully elevated in the drivecylinder, the rst joint extends down into the well head below the wellhead stufling box.

In order to service the well, that is to pull out the sucker rod string,or to replace the sucker rod actuating unit, it is necessary todismantle the drive cylinder and lift it up over the end of the polishrod and drive piston or else to pull the entire work cylinder and polishrod upwardly to bring the first sucker rod joint above the Well headstufling box. This latter practice frequently entails damage to thestuing box and either practice is time consuming and requires the use ofheavy lifting equipment.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved Wellhead construction which will permit the polish rod and the pumpactuating mechanism to be disconnected from the sucker rod string in asimple and expeditious manner not requiring heavy lifting equipment ordisassembly of a driving cylinder and its associated packing and whichdoes not require that a rod joint be drawn through a stuffing box,

A further object is to provide an improved stuffing box support andcasing head :seal` which may be quickly opened, providing access to therst sucker rod joint Without having to lift any heavy apparatus or torisk damage to the stuffing box by pulling a rod joint through it.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearlyshown.

1 Claim. (Cl. 16S-14) Inthedrawin'g; w lig'ure 1 is a side view ofawellpump'ing apparatus in position over awelland incorporating apreferred fornlgofthev present invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional View on a larger scale of thewell head andjstliiling box'supportforming part of the apparatus in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view. corresponding tojFigu're, 2 showing the parts indisassembled position.

Figure 4 is a view'fcor'responding to Figure 2 showing the partsinf'another .disassembled position.

There is illustrated in Figure 1, a well pumping unit generallydesignated IU and mounted on skids i 2 adjacent a well casing I4. Thedetails of the pumping lunit form no part of the present invention,there being indicated for illustrative purposes a unit of the hydraulictype having a drive cylinder I6 mounted on a tripod I8 above the Well.The lower end of the work cylinder, as shown in Figure 2, has a cylinderhead 20 provided with the usual rod packings through which a polish rod22 extends. The latter is provided with a screw joint 24 which connectswith the sucker rod 26. The head of the well casing I4 is provided withthe usual head tting 28 and discharge conduit 30 leading therefrom.Screwed into an upwardly facing opening in the fitting 28 is a stuflingbox support generally designated 32 which carries the usual polish rodstulng box 34 at its upward end. The support 32 includes two telescopingtubular members 35 and 38, the former being provided with a clamping andpacking assembly 40 for the purpose of frctionally holding the membersin extended position and sealing the joint therebetween. The normalposition of the stufiing box support is illustrated in Figure '2 fromwhich it will be seen that the joint 24, there illustrated in itshighest position normally occupied with the drive cylinder I6 in place,lies above the casing head fitting 28 but below the stuffing box 34. Innormal operation the polish rod 22 will move downwardlyfrom thisposition by the length of piston stroke so that the stuffing box 34 isalways operating on the continuous surface of the polish rod 22. l

When it is desired to service the well or to remove orreplace thepumping unit I0, the clamp 40 is released and the member 36 may beunscrewed from the fitting 2B. The two supporting parts may then betelescoped upwardly and lifted to the position shown in Figure 3. Thisex- ,poses the joint 24 and after the usual slips 42 have been placed tohold the sucker rod string in position, the polish rod 22 maybeunscrewed from the sucker rod 26, thus completely dis- Y 3 connectingthe entire pumping unit from the sucker rod string. The pumping unit maythen be easily slipped to one side on its skids l2 for such furtherservice operations as are necessary either on the pumping unit itself oron the sucker rod string.

Thereis illustrated atFigure-fl` an alternative; Way of using thetelescoping support and particularly for such installations where thejoint 24 has an upper position, closer to the normal posi-r tion ofstufng box 34. In this instance vafter the clamp 40 is loosened, thestuffing box assemsupported in normal position above the lower end thecombination of a well head, a sucker rod operating device supportedindependently of and above the well head and having a polish rod of suchlength that the lower end thereof may be elevated above the well head, astufng box Surrounding the polish rod and a tubular supporting assemblyfor Ythe stui-ng lbox. comprising at least two-telescoping membersattached at one end to the well head and at the other end to thestuffing box, whereby the stung box may be fof the polish rod when themembers are in bly 39 is unscrewed from the member 38 and ,Y

the latter is telescoped downwardly Yinto the tube 36 and the stufng boxlifted upwardly against the cylinder head 20.

attachedand extended position, and the lower end of the. polish rod maybe exposed above the The slipskmay Athen be l placed on the top of thetubel 3B' and the jointv Well head for connection or disconnection fromthe suckervrodrwhen said supporting assembly is detached'at'one end andthe members telescoped together.

YORSON G. HOUSER.

VREEEImvCES CITED v The following.; references are of recordin the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 127,025 Carll May 21, 1872809,389 Myers Jan. 9, 1906,A

1,664,930 Johnson Apr. 3, 1928 1,845,176

Palm` Feb. 16, 1 932

